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Men's basketball: CU Buffs run out of room at Coors

Group of students turned away from CSU game

By Ryan Thorburn Buffzone.com

Posted:
12/06/2012 06:23:31 PM MST

Updated:
12/06/2012 06:23:58 PM MST

University of Colorado sophomore John Grotenhuis, left, senior Kyle Wolma, center, and sophomore Matt Pitzer throw pieces of newspaper into the air with the rest of the CU student section after the Buffs scored their first points against CSU on Wednesday night in Boulder. A small group of students were turned away after the building reached capacity for the doubleheader.
(
JEREMY PAPASSO
)

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn is struggling to find a qualified football coach interested in signing a five-year, $13.5 million deal to work in Boulder.

The problem on Wednesday night at the Coors Events Center was completely different.

A group of disappointed CU students were denied entry into the Buffs' 70-61 victory over Colorado State, even though they had purchased student season tickets.

"If I had to choose only one game to go to this season that would have been it," said Nick Trevino, a senior at CU who was unable to gain admittance. "My brother is CSU alumni, so he was there. It was a game that meant a lot to me and I didn't even get in. ... I purchase tickets to see games, not to be turned away at the door."

Matt Biggers, CU's associate athletic director of external affairs and chief marketing officer, said hosting a doubleheader against the rival Rams presented a unique challenge for the athletic department.

Officials had to try and predict how many fans in attendance at the women's game would stay for the nightcap, and then how many general admission tickets to sell for the men's game.

Students were still showing up midway through the first half before CU closed the doors on what added up to be a record crowd of 11,708. The official capacity of the Coors Events Center is 11,064.

"(Wednesday) night was a convergence of a lot of variables that made it a difficult balance," Bigger said. "We will take care of those folks with refunds or an adjustment. It just got to the point where we were at capacity and couldn't let anymore people in the building."

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With both basketball programs performing so well under popular third-year coaches -- Linda Lappe's team improved to 7-0 with a 72-46 romp over the Rams -- it is less likely CU will be hosting doubleheaders in the future, although scheduling is complicated by the Pac-12 Network.

"Tonight's atmosphere is what college basketball is all about," CU head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. "And that is what we want to have on a consistent basis, not just on rivalry games, but when we play conference games, too.

"I think our fans are starting to understand and enjoy and embrace it. But we have to do a good job on the floor to make sure we put a product out there that is worthy of their support."

The Buffs (7-1), the defending Pac-12 Tournament champions, are on track for more than 20 wins and a postseason tournament appearance for the third consecutive year under Boyle.

Biggers said going forward the department will consider issuing tickets to students for marquee men's Pac-12 games instead of swiping their season passes.

In addition to the unprecedented interest on campus, CU sold nearly 6,700 season tickets to the general public for the 2012-13 campaign.

"(Wednesday) was a record attendance, so I thank all the fans who came out and supported us," sophomore guard Spencer Dinwiddie said after scoring 29 points to lead CU to the win over CSU. "To have an atmosphere like this and to make this a tough place to play is awesome. I know the crowd gets us hyped and into the game even more so."

Five years ago, there was plenty of room in the Coors Events Center for the 4,000 or so diehards. These days CU basketball is a tough ticket.

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